Coronation Street star Daniel Brocklebank addresses potential Billy addiction relapse after Paul’s death
Coronation Street star Daniel Brocklebank has opened up about what’s next for Billy Mayhew in the ITV soap following the heartbreaking death of his husband Paul Foreman.
Paul sadly passed away after battling Motor Neurone Disease, with Billy narrowly missing his final moments after losing his phone. In upcoming episodes, Billy, along with the rest of Paul’s family, struggles to come to terms with his death as they clash whilst attempting to plan his funeral.
Now, actor Daniel has revealed how he thinks Billy will come with Paul’s death and has addressed whether the vicar could relapse, having previously had addiction problems.
Coronation Street star Daniel Brocklebank speaks on Billy future
Daniel Brocklebank has revealed what could be in store for Billy as he navigates grief and coping with losing his husband Paul. The actor admitted he hopes Billy doesn’t turn to drugs again, after previously struggling with addiction.
Speaking on whether Billy could relapse in the near future, Daniel told Digital Spy: “Well, hopefully not to the extent of doing heroin! Hopefully not to the extent of shooting up in the aisle of the church, like we saw before. Billy’s good in a crisis if it’s not his crisis.”
The soap star is hoping that some more light-hearted fun is in the pipeline for Billy. Daniel revealed he’d love to see his character mixing with older characters and forming new, unlikely friendships with Weatherfield residents.
“I’d really like some comedy, that would be nice. Billy and old women, that would work well! A nice little knitting club, a book group, maybe a choir. But Billy with a load of old women,” he joked. “I think Billy and Sally Metcalfe would be quite an amusing couple sat in that hot tub, chewing the fat. A little bit of comedy next year would be nice.”
Billy’s past addiction struggles
Billy has previously struggled with addiction in Coronation Street. After falling over a cliff, he was left needing to use a wheelchair and relying on painkillers.
Adam Barlow purposefully gave Billy stronger painkillers in a bid to get revenge. He ended up addicted to the painkillers, which led him to contact Lee. Together, Billy and Lee took heroin.
Billy subsequently went on the run after getting addicted to drugs. He later returned to the cobbles and broke into No.11 in search of money, but was caught by Peter Barlow. He convinced Billy to admit his addiction and Billy’s Bishop, John Thornber, later got him admitted to rehab.